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Phyllis McGuire, the lead singer and last remaining member of the 1950s trio known as the McGuire Sisters, died Tuesday at her Las Vegas home, according to the New York Times. She was 89 years old.
McGuire’s death was confirmed to The Times by the Palm Eastern Mortuary, but no cause of death has been announced.
“I’m not afraid to live, and I’m not afraid to die,” McGuire told Vanity Fair in 1989. “You only live once, and I’m going to live it to the fullest, until what I’m leaving. And I’ll keep singing for as long as anyone wants me to.
The singer’s path to fame began when Coral Records signed her with her two sisters, Christine and Dorothy McGuire, to a recording contract in 1952. That year they also appeared on “Arthur Godfrey Talent”. Scouts ”, winning the competition. Following their success on the show, the three singers were booked to perform on variety shows and traveled the country as their popularity skyrocketed.
The sisters’ pop cover of the 1954 song “Sincerely”, originally recorded by The Moonglows, continued to top Billboard’s American song charts for six weeks in 1955. It was the first of their songs to reach the top of the billboard. classification, followed in 1958 by the interpretation of the sisters of “Sugartime”.
The two No. 1 singles have sold over a million copies, as has their 1956 song “Picnic”. Their rapid growth has brought the sisters to a level of stature worthy of playing for a king – or queen. They sang for Queen Elizabeth II and five presidents during their long career.
The sisters remained popular throughout the 1950s, but the 1960s found the trio dealing with the optics of Phyllis McGuire’s relationship with the Mafia. Reports suggested she had a romantic relationship with Chicago gangster Sam Giancana, although she insisted it was only a platonic relationship.
Before a grand jury in 1965, McGuire testified that she knew Giancana was a criminal, although she did not know any specific details of his activities.
1968 marked a temporary hiatus in the band’s performance, with the McGuire Sisters’ last appearance on “The Ed Sullivan Show”. Phyllis McGuire pursued a solo career during this time, although she began releasing songs on her own in 1964.
She and her sisters reunited for group performances again in 1985, which led to nearly two more decades of performances in Las Vegas and other major cities. In 1994, while still singing as a band, the McGuire Sisters were inducted into the National Broadcasting Hall of Fame.
Around this time, the group began to appear less frequently, but still performed as a group throughout the next decade. Their last full-scale performance was in the 2004 PBS special, “Magic Moments: Best of 50s Pop”. Phyllis McGuire, the youngest of the trio, was 70 at the time.
McGuire’s sister, Dorothy, died in 2012 at the age of 84, while Christine died in 2018 at age 92.
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